Tp Review 3-13-05 - Part 2

[sprinkles]

RAIATEA -

 

Again, pre-booked Bruno's tour, sent the $100 check deposit and he returned it to us when we paid in cash. Bruno is very nice, but with his accent he is hard to understand, no big deal. Went to the pearl farm, interesting, but too much time spent there with everyone trying to shop at the end. The lady who owns the pearl farm is very nice, but IMHO she needs to display her jewelry better so everyone could look at the same time. She seemed to be VERY stressed out about watching her stuff and it was almost impossible to try and find matching earrings etc, with everyone crowded around a little table. Anyway, my being stressed out with all the crowding saved DH $800 on the set I almost bought. Next stop vanille farm, interesting and we spent much less time there. Lagoonarium kinda sad, 10 stingrays in a little pen that you can swim with etc, lunch was OK, but it is not BBQ there right in front of you, and don't expect tables in the water, there are tables under a cover. Now we had a LONG boat ride over to the other side of the island (this is all around Taha - the neighboring small island to Huahine). The boat ride was WELL worth it though for the stop at the coral gardens. Here is my big warning. When you get to the coral gardens Bruno tells you that the experienced snorkelers can do the drift snorkel and the others can snorkel around the boat. This is where he really needs to communicate better. All he said was wait for me then he led us walking up to the start of the drift snorkel. He needs to let people know that they need to follow everything he does down the current. We had people in the group who got caught up rite away and ended up going down on their own. One of our friends got SERIOUSELY cut up. Several people freaked out. DH and I were fine and followed Bruno's every move. It was AWSOME, colors and fish like we had never seen. Another couple who got seperated from Bruno the husband stepped on some spiny thing that went into his foot and he had problems with his foot the rest of the cruise, he could not even wear a shoe to dinner that night. DH and I had so much fun, we followed Bruno back up to do it again - but we were the only ones who did it a second time. DH and I thought the tour was pricey, but worth it for no other reason then the coral gardens. However, our friend who was so cut up ended up spending the rest of the cruise going to the ship's Dr. two or three times a say to get intravenous antibiotics (he had a permanent IV line in his arm), they had to drain his knee it was so infected. So anyway, IMHO again, if you are not a strong swimmer and not an experienced snorkeler, be carefull.

 

BORA BORA

 

Day one, we took the beach shuttle over to the beach then walked over to the edge of the Intercontinental Resort, snorkeling not so great there, spent a couple of hours then went back to town on the shuttle. Reserved a car rental for the next day. Day 2 BORA BORA, had our air conditioned car (cold air - which we needed for a change, the humidity was killing us). Had a blast going around the island and stopping where we wanted to - Bloody Mary's, shopping etc. Four hours cost us 8500 francs.

 

MOOREA -

 

Got of the boat in the second tender and found Stephanie at the dock. BEST DEAL of the cruise. $55 US ($35 if you did not want lunch). We went out to do the shark feeding (fun and we spent quite a bit of time there). Then went off to play with the stingrays. But the best part was the Motu. Tables in the shade, BBQ was OK. But it was really pretty. The stingrays will come right up to you on the shoreline and play with you. GREAT snorkeling - again the current was strong in the middle, but you could just wear water shoes and walk out a little way and see awesome fish. They also did a coconut demonstration and would let you try and crack them etc. We just had too much fun playing in the water. Only downside with Staphanie is that they put alot of people on the boat, but it really doesn't matter. It was a GREAT day. Other people we talked with also felt it was the best deal of the trip. Had to have the main baggage out by 10:00pm on this night.

 

PAPEETE -

 

We checked out of our room by 9:00 am. Dropped of our hand luggage at the grill on deck 10. Left our passports, tickets and jewelry in the safe at the pursers office and took off to enjoy our last day in paradise. Walked over to the tourist information office which is right near the ship (wish we could have gotten in BEFORE the cruise as they had maps and stuff of every island - but it was closed when we checked on Sunday). Very nice and helpfull, got a map and she showed us where to catch the bus and how to get to the nice black sand beach. We walked across the street and for 200 francs apiece we rode on the fully cold air conditioned city bus (#14) to Mahina. Pretty drive in places and we got off at the snack shop where she told us to, by the lighthouse. Wa;lked out to the left and found a really nice soft black sand beach with gentle waves. Spent about 3 hours frolicking in the gentle waves with Moorea off in the distance and a lovely view of the hillside next to us. Did not see ANYONE else from the ship there, mostly locals and hotel tourists. The black sand is very hot, but they have tables up in the shade as well. We couldn't have spent a better day. Caught the bus at 2:00pm which took us back up the road a short way, we told the driver Papeete and he motioned that we had to go up then back down (he did not charge us). He made one stop, then a nice lady on the bus said we needed to get off and take another bus back to Papeete (it will say Papeete or Mahina on the bus). One came literally within 2 minutes. So for another 400 francs we rode in air conditioned comfort. The bus dropped us off right next to the Marche (market - where we wanted to go anyway). Where we did some last minute shopping. We also found out that everything we bought on other islands was available right there for the same price or CHEAPER.

 

Got back to the ship at 3:00pm, went up to the pool and got a table in the shade. DH retrieved our bags from the grill and our stuff from the purser. Then we each took turns showering and getting dressed in the spa which was right there. No problems at all. There was only one other man with DH. In the ladies room at first there were about 10 of us, but we made do, then they all cleared out. There are two showers in the women's locker room and a blow dryer. Had a quick bit to eat in the buffet then got off the ship at 6:15pm.

 

LEAVING THE CRUISE. Big pay-off for not getting ship transfers. Even though they were calling tag colors for people with transfers we could just leave since we were independant, walked out to the front and got our bags, there were plenty of taxi's waiting there. We tried to find another couple to share a taxi with ($25 plus $1 per bag), but EVERYONE was getting on the shuttle buses, so we jumped in a taxi on our own.

 

When we got to the airport, since we had all our luggage we were sent to a different line that only had three people in front of us. All the transfer people had to get in a LONG line, then claim their luggage, then go through security. After we checked in then you were just right back in the open airport. We went up to the self-serve snack bar on the second floor (look for the glass windows above the HOT snack bar) and hung out in air-conditioned comfort for an hour and a half. We went back to look at the HUGE lines of people from the transfers and felt bad for them. We could have hung out in the air-conditioning longer as it took nothing to get through the second immigration checkpoint and security. They did not start loading our 10:00pm plane until 9:30pm. It is VERY hot once you get inside the terminal. Plane was packed going home, but uneventfull. Most everyone slept, and we woke up with about two hours left of flying. Luckily for us, LA was our last stop. What an amazing cruise, one that I am sure we will hopefully do again very soon.

 

Oh one side note: They have a new policy on the ship (that they did not tell anyone about). When you order room service (i.e. full breakfast/lunch kinda thing). The delivery guy has you sign for it. Well all he told DH was, you need to sign for receipt of your food. DH had just woke up both times and did not have his glasses on. You are actually siging to agree to a $5.00 tip for the room service. Which is fine, but we did not know that and also handed the waiter $5.00 each time. The final bill had an additional $10 in room service tips, making the tip $10 for each meal. They did the same thing to one of our other friends. They did take it off, and it is a brand new policy. Just thought I'd share that tidbit with you. Hopefully they will do something better with letting people know about the policy change.

 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Sorry this was soo loong, but I just had to share what an amazing time we had. Also sorry for any typo's, I am exhausted and need to go take a nap.

 

Tammy

[JOMOPE]

Tammy,

 

Thanks for you review. We are taking TP (Papeete-Honolulu) on 4/12.

 

We have only one day in Papeete and one in Moorea.

Would you rather take a ferry to Moorea (from Papeete) and spend two days in Moorea (one for the shark..feeding and one for the 4x4 or rent a car) or 1dayPapeete+1dayMoorea?

 

Second question. I was also thinking about renting a jeep in Moorea instead of taking an excursion. What do you think? Is is easy to drive by yourself around island? Which company did you use?

 

Thanks,

Jose

[Nautical but Nice]

Tammy - Did you book your Moorea excursion in advance, or right there on the dock? Was it an all day trip? I'd like to do something like this in addition to a land tour of the island, but not sure if time will permit.

 

Also, your suggestion would be to wait and buy everything at the Marche, instead of on Bora Bora or Moorea?

 

Thanks!

Christine

[sprinkles]

Christine,

 

We just found Stephan at the dock. We made sure we got out on the tender early. It was an all day excursion. They had a boat that left the motu at 1:30 then the last one that we took back to the ship at 2:30.

 

My suggestion on shopping is if you get a chance to go to the Marche at the beginning of the trip, you can see everything they have there, then you will know what you can find at the end. It turned out that everything was less expensive there with the exception of Roratonga, as the exchange rate is better, but they did not have that much in Roratonga. Have a great time.

 

Tammy

[sprinkles]

BUMP for Joyce

[john2003]

We are thinking about the TP, but I am getting concerned about the snorkeling. We both really enjoy snorkelling but neither of us would consider ourselves strong swimmers. The report about the drift is a concern as I don't think we would want to get into this type of situation. My question is, did u find currents a problem in other snorkeling sites?

 

U obviously had excellent weather. Am I correct in thinking that March is likely to be very hot and very humid? Is that what you found.

[sprinkles]

Yes, it was VERY hot and HUMID during our March trip. We were blessed with awesome weather, only had about 5 minutes worth of rain ONE day the entire trip. We were told by staff that June July and August are the BEST months for French Polynesia, as there is not as much rain and the humidity is supposed to be alot better.

 

We did find enjoyable snorkeling at some of the resorts, ie the Sheraton in Moorea, the Intercontinental Hotel on Bora Bora - that did not have strong currents. But yes, upon reflection the BEST snorkeling we had everywhere was in strong currents and our fins were needed.

 

It is gorgeous in French Polynesia, you should be able to find plenty of snorkeling that will fit your swimming ability. Have a great time if you choose to go.

 

Tammy

[PRLT]

Sounds like you had such a great time. We are going on TP in Nov. How did you get in contact and make reservations before hand. It seems like Moorea you didn't have a res and had no problem finding someone to take you to the shark/ray excursion. Is it like that in each of the ports? We are staying in Moorea for 3 nights at the Sheraton before the cruise and wanted to do the shark/ray excursion. Also want to do a pearl farm and vanilla plantation tour. Any suggestions.

 

 

Thanks :)

[sprinkles]

Marc's tour website is http://www.huahine-nautique.com email is huahinenautique@mail.pf

 

Bruno's website is tahaa.net - email tpt@mail.pf . Bruno's tour in Raiatea included a pearl farm, vanilla plantation and the AWESOME coral gardens for snorkeling. We had to send Bruno a cheque for $100 for a deposit which he promptly returned to us when we met at his boat.

 

I just emailed both the above to set up our tours. In Moorea, we found Stephane at the dock for the shark/ray feeding and motu picnic, then we went to the hotel Bali Hi to pick up other people, so you could definately book his tour at the Bali hi, or I bet you can book Albert Tours (which is the exact same tour as Stephane) through the Sheraton.

 

Have a great time - we can't wait to go back!

 

Tammy

[sprinkles]

Bump